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New MAA Position Reflects Growth of Publications

New MAA Position Reflects Growth of Publications

By Tina Straley

With Don Albers stepping out of the position of Director of Publications, the Association is in an excellent position to continue to build upon his outstanding accomplishments. Don arrived at MAA as Director of Publications and Programs in 1991. Since that time, he has overseen many changes and tremendous growth of the publications department. His titles over the years suggest these changes: Director of Publications and Programs, Director of Publications and Electronic Services, and finally Director of Publications. In this last iteration of his position, Don oversees three programs: book publication; print journals and periodicals; and web resources that include a digital library, two magazines, and numerous periodical columns.

Under Don's leadership, MAA launched Math Horizons, four new book series, and all of the resources currently on the web including MathDL and a new, yet to be released, site, Math Gateway, linking sixteen mathematical digital libraries.

Although the MAA advertised for a Director of Publications to take over all of Don's assignments, we found that the job has grown too big for one person. Don's new assignment as MAA's Book Editorial Director will allow Don to turn his attention fully to the books program, which published twenty-six new titles in 2005 alone. Don will oversee acquisitions and project development while Elaine Pedreira Sullivan will oversee production and distribution. But that leaves the other parts of what is now the Publications Department untended. Thus, MAA is seeking someone to oversee MAA periodicals and web resources.

The MAA website has tremendous potential. To fulfill the MAA s vision statement adopted in 2005, the MAA website should be the first place people will go to when they think about undergraduate or expository mathematics. The MAA website should be the preeminent resource for high school, college, and graduate students seeking academic and career information and assistance. The MAA website should be the destination for faculty seeking resources for teaching and for mathematicians in all fields looking for enrichment and enjoyment.

MAA journals will soon be available online and that resource will open up new possibilities for MAA membership worldwide and can better serve students and young faculty who use the web as their first choice for information. Publications such as Math Horizons, Convergence, and JOMA can reach many more audiences than they currently do.

Thus with a reorganization of the publications component of the MAA into two departments, one for book production and the other for journals, web resources, and other communications of the MAA, the Association will be poised for continued growth and to better serve our members and other constituencies.

id: 
4356
News Date: 
Wednesday, May 24, 2006